


Warming Up

by IvyCpher



Category: Howl's Moving Castle - All Media Types
Genre: Bickering, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Reading
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:49:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25741603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvyCpher/pseuds/IvyCpher
Summary: Howl is freezing due to the fact that there's no hot water left in the castle. Sophie warms him up with cuddles.
Relationships: Sophie Hatter/Howl Pendragon
Comments: 14
Kudos: 216





	Warming Up

Sophie gave a sigh as she sat down in her comfortable rocking chair next to the window, giving her an optimal view of the not-so-secret flower garden. The flowers glittered in the afternoon light, their petals wet with the raindrops of an earlier rain shower. And although the view was beautiful, so breathtaking that Sophie never found herself bored with it, she looked away. She turned to the little stand beside her and picked up a book that was resting next to her steaming cup of tea.

Tracing her fingers over the title on the cover of the book, Sophie smiled softly.  _ Pride and Prejudice.  _ It was a book with an author that didn't exist in their world, but in Howl's  _ original  _ world: Wales. Though there were still a thing or two of that world that gave Sophie a turn when she encountered them, motorized carriages or  _ cars  _ as they really were being one of them; Sophie was learning to enjoy parts of Wales, in moderation that was. Books were one of the first things that Sophie had fallen in love with from Howl's world. Howl had brought the book back for her from his last trip to Wales and she found herself enamored with it from the moment she read the first page.

"Reading  _ again?"  _ Asked Calcifer from the other side of the room. "Doesn't that get boring?"

Sophie looked up at him, opening the book as she did so. "Not in the slightest." She pulled out her bookmark and set it on the stand beside her. "It's nice. It's like living through a wonderful adventure without having to worry about getting hurt yourself." She shrugged softly. "Doesn't sitting in a hearth all day get tiring for you?"

"Ouch, now you just  _ had  _ to go there? You know, it wouldn't be so boring if this room wasn't so plain." He looked around, "No offense but you and Howl aren't the best at decorating."

Pulling the book close to her, Sophie rolled her eyes. "Well at least  _ I  _ give you breaks, or have you already forgotten that I gave you the rest of the afternoon off?" 

"Breaks or not, the walls are barren!" Waving his arms around so that they popped loudly with sparks flying to the edges of the hearth, Calcifer continued to complain. "Really! A painting would look so nice, of even a puzzle,  _ anything!" _

But Sophie had already tuned Calcifer out, lost in the pages of her book. Growing up the eldest out of three had quickly given her the skill to turn off the outside noises of temper tantrums and those petty fights over objects like hair combs and earrings that sisters were inclined to have. Unluckily for Sophie, she was soon brought out of her reading by a thing that was most difficult to distract herself from: her boyfriend.

Howl stomped down the stairs, dripping wet and casting water everywhere like a wet dog. "Sophie!" He gasped as soon as he laid eyes on her. His dark hair was plastered to his face and he was nude all except the slipping towel around his waist. "Did you use all the hot water?" He asked, running down the stairs so quickly that Sophie was surprised that he didn't slip and fall. "I tried to take a shower and the water that came out was like ice!"

"Well, I did take a shower this morning and did some dishes." Sophie said, marking her place in her book and putting it down so that it might not get wet. "You're dripping all over the place, can't you even dry yourself?"

Howl made a sound like a dying cat and slumped against the wall, "Ugh, you're horrible! A dictator! You insult me at my weakest moments!"

Sophie only sighed and stood up from her chair, "You can just take another shower later." She grabbed her mug of tea and stepped over to Howl. "Just dry off and sit by Calcifer to warm up if you're so cold." She held the tea out to him, "Here."

Howl's eyes lit up as he took the mug in both hands, "Calcifer! How could I forget?" He pressed a quick but cold kiss to Sophie's cheek before striding past her to the hearth, dripping the whole way. "Calcifer, heat up some water for my shower, would you?"

"Hey!" Hissed Calcifer as a large drop of water fell close to him. "Watch it! How many wet fires have you met? Yeah,  _ none!  _ Sophie said I could have the rest of the afternoon off, so heat your own water!"

"What?" Howl cried, running a hand down his face. "Sophie, please-" He turned to Sophie. "Make Calcifer heat some water before I freeze to death!"

"You won't freeze to death, but you will get sick if you don't cover up." With a roll of her eyes, Sophie crossed her arms. "Just drink the tea and put on some clothes, take a shower later."

Howl took a slow sip of the tea, "You've forsaken me, Sophie. I can't believe I've let you do this. What a cunning witch you are! Forcing your way into my heart and then killing me with a cold when I least expected it so you can take over my legacy!" He cried dramatically. "Oh, this is my punishment for stealing the hearts of those ladies before you just because I could, isn't it?"

That made Sophie laugh, "Oh, stop it. You aren't even sick yet! You're going to jinx yourself if you keep talking about it." She shook her head and walked into the kitchen to grab a dish towel off the counter. "Can you stop dripping so I can mop this mess up?" She came back into the main room, "I've grown past my anger at that just like  _ you've  _ grown past doing that." 

Rolling his eyes, Howl looked down and grabbed his towel just before it fell off him. "I'm hardly dripping anymore, but I'm at your mercy so I will."

When Howl went upstairs, Sophie tossed the towel to the nearest wet spot on the floor and hitched up her dress before getting on her knees to begin cleaning up Howl's mess. Sometimes she still felt like his cleaning lady, but she had to admit that he was doing more around the castle lately. After the war ended, Howl had become far less busy and began to take on his fair share of housework. Though he absolutely hated washing the dishes, he would fake an illness as soon as Sophie even mentioned him doing them.

Once the water on the floor and the stairs was mopped up, Sophie tossed the towel in the hamper in the closet where they kept their dirty laundry. When she came back to the main room, Howl was back downstairs, (thankfully) dry and laying on their little sofa with her book in his lap. Instead of changing into normal, daytime clothes he had put back on his long night dress from the night before. Howl didn't even look up from the book as Sophie sat beside him, he only moved aside to give her room to sit.

"You've finally stopped dripping." Said Sophie, sitting next to Howl and letting her head fall on his shoulder. She absentmindedly put her arm through his and looked into the book, curious to see where he was.

"And you've read farther into this book than I thought you would in a week." Howl picked up the bookmark from the arm of the sofa and stuck it between the pages of the book. He closed it and held it out to Sophie.

"Well, I enjoy it." Shrugged Sophie, grabbing her book. As she took her book back, her fingers brushed against Howl's and she quickly pulled the book to her chest, shivering. "You're as cold as death!"

"Well if you remember, I tried to take a shower and then was given the cruel fate of cold water in my face when my scheming girlfriend used all the hot water and gave our fire demon a break."

Quickly putting down her book beside her, Sophie moved to grab both of Howl's hands in her own. "Oh, please, you act as if your cold hands are my fault entirely." She brought his hands to her lips and blew hot air on them. Then for good measure she kissed them and began to rub them between her own hands. "When you came down here you were sopping wet. You wouldn't have gotten that wet had you jumped out of the shower the second you knew the water was cold." She looked at Howl and shook her head fondly. "You stayed in the water despite it being cold, didn't you?" She asked, not in an angry or questioning tone, but a curious one. Though the three years Sophie had been together with Howl had felt like forever- there were still many things that she did not understand about him. "Why?" Taking one of her hands off Howl's, she gently pressed her palm to his face and was thankful to feel that it was warm.

A faint blush darkened Howl's face, making hidden freckles pop. "I thought that maybe the water would eventually heat up." He admitted, leaning into her touch. "Sometimes it's a bit cold at first before it warms up." Howl turned his face to kiss the inside of Sophie's palm, then he looked at her and smirked. "Like you."

It was Sophie's turn to blush. "I'm not  _ cold."  _ She said, pulling her hand away from Howl's face and crossing her arms. "I seem to remember being perfectly pleasant to you when we first met properly."

Howl's smile grew as he sat up and put an arm around Sophie's shoulder, drawing her closer to him. She didn't struggle against his hold. "And  _ I  _ seem to remember you breaking into my home, bullying my fire demon, banishing my spiders, and messing with my hair products."

With his arm still around her, Sophie turned around to face Howl. "Now when you put it like that you make me seem like a tyrant." She said, trying to sound serious but her smile made her fail. "Spiders don't contribute a thing to society. Who needs them anyways?" She asked jokingly. 

Wrapping his other arm about Sophie's waist, Howl pressed his forehead to Sophie's, "I rather like spiders." He brought his lips close to her's but stopped just before they met, "But-" He pulled away, "Not so much cold showers."

It took Sophie a second to register that Howl had not kissed her. She rolled her eyes and looked away, "Honestly, do you still blame me for that?" She looked back at him, "What will it take for you to stop complaining about it?"

"Will you sit here with me?" Howl asked.

The request seemed so simple that it confused Sophie. "But- I already am sitting here with you. What do you mean?"

"Yes, but, will you continue to sit here with me?" Smiling, Howl took his hand off Sophie's waist to lean over and grab her book from beside her. He handed it to her, "Sophie, you're so warm, if you sit here with me and let me hold you for just a while then I know I'll be better in a second."

Taking the book, Sophie smiled softly. "Alright." She nodded, her blush darkening. "Though you're not as sly as you think," She said, turning around with her back to his chest. She looked up over her shoulder at him. "Making yourself cold as an excuse to cuddle," Laughing quietly, she opened the book in her lap. "When all you had to do was ask." She turned back to her book, still smiling.

Howl was silent for a moment as Sophie began to read, but then he put his chin on her shoulder. "You've figured me out, Sophie." He said quietly before pressing a kiss so gentle that it sent a chill down Sophie's spine to her cheek. "I love you, my falling star." He whispered.

Sophie looked back at Howl and kissed him, softly and slowly, her favourite way to do so. "I love you too." She exhaled. And for a moment, she just looked at Howl because she really did love him. She loved him more than she had ever loved anyone else and he loved her. Howl had taught her what it was like to feel loved, to feel beautiful and it made her heart feel light in her chest and her pulse quicken. "I really love you."

Then when Sophie turned back to her book, Howl pressed another kiss to her cheek. "I'm glad to know you really love me then, because I really love you too."

A comfortable silence fell between them while Sophie stared at the pages of her book with her eyes unmoving as she only pretended to be reading. Because Sophie's heart was so in love with Howl that even simple things like reading escaped her mind and all she could do was be overflowing with that happy feeling that came from being with him. But after a moment, her heart settled and she could read again.

**Author's Note:**

> My first HMC fic!!! I'm so excited! I hope it's good and that everyone is in character!
> 
> Comments are very much appreciated!!!


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